AQA English Language Paper 1 practice paper

Last updated: 15/11/2023
Contributor: Emma
Practice questions using an extract from 'Great Expectations'
Main Subject
Key stage
Exam board
Category
Reading skills: Comprehension
Resource type
Assessment
Exam preparation
Revision
Student activity
Author
Charles Dickens
Genre
Heritage
Title
Great Expectations

This helpful resource enables students to critically develop their understanding of the nature of English Language Paper 1 Section A extracts and related questions. It also helps them prepare for the section requirements and supports the practice of skills needed to tackle this part of the paper effectively.

Using an extract from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, this AQA GCSE English Language Paper 1 Section A set of exam questions is suitable for students preparing for a practice exam paper or completing GCSE revision.

The extract focuses on the first chapter of the novel, where the reader is introduced to Pip, the protagonist.

This practice paper takes its extract from a 19th century novel, whereas the AQA GCSE English Language specification states that the exam will take an extract from a literature fiction text published in the 20th or 21st century.

Browse a range of GCSE English Language Paper 1 Section A and Section B resources in the GCSE English Language section. There is a collection of sample past papers, including targeted exam questions with a relevant mark scheme and GCSE revision resources.

A sample extract from the resource:

Answer all questions in this section.

 

You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this section.

 

  1. Read again the first part of the Source from lines 1-11.

 

List four things from this part that tell us about the narrator of the story.

[4 marks]

 

All reviews

Have you used this resource?

5

22/11/2020

5

06/09/2019

Hiya Bie,

Possible answers are:

QT1:
• Pip’s family name is Pirrip
• Pip’s Christian name is Philip
• He calls himself Pip, and came to be called Pip.
• He never saw his father or his mother
• His mother and father are dead.

QT2:
Firstly, when Pip describes the place where his parents are buried he observes how it was a “bleak place overgrown with nettles”. Dickens employs the adjective “bleak” to suggest that there is little to appreciate about the environment because it appears that the churchyard is uncared for and an unwelcoming place as the nettles are “overgrown” implying that it has been neglected. Furthermore, the fact that Pip no longer has any parents as they are both “dead and buried” along with his siblings “Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias, and Roger” highlights how life is very cruel, and that infant mortality is a common occurrence. The long list of children who have died before him reinforces the idea that where he lives the quality of life is poor as the children seem to have died prematurely, leaving Pip to feel very isolated and alone.

QT3:
 Motif of death established at the start that is reoccurring throughout and ends the extract. Creates a sense that the environment is a dangerous one because it makes the reader fear for the narrator/ protagonist.
 The man is a convict – “leg iron” – escaped prisoner. Intrigued by who this stranger is and why he is here; what will he do?
 Pace of the story – unexpected change in the direction of the text – because the focus moves from Pip’s family and background to a potential incident of death. Shocks the reader because we are unprepared for the shift in focus.

QT4:

 Line 20 – “marsh country”
 Line 24 – “bleak place overgrown with nettles”
 Line 26 – “dead and buried” – parents and siblings.
 Line 28 – “distant savage lair”
 Line 29 – “small bundle of shivers growing afraid”
 Line 35/36 - “a man…no hat, broken shoes, old rag tied round his head”

Emma De Vito

25/11/2017

Hi,
I was just wondering if there are answers to this exercise and where to find them?
Thanks you

Hasbie Isaku

16/09/2017

5

22/11/2020

5

06/09/2019

Hiya Bie,

Possible answers are:

QT1:
• Pip’s family name is Pirrip
• Pip’s Christian name is Philip
• He calls himself Pip, and came to be called Pip.
• He never saw his father or his mother
• His mother and father are dead.

QT2:
Firstly, when Pip describes the place where his parents are buried he observes how it was a “bleak place overgrown with nettles”. Dickens employs the adjective “bleak” to suggest that there is little to appreciate about the environment because it appears that the churchyard is uncared for and an unwelcoming place as the nettles are “overgrown” implying that it has been neglected. Furthermore, the fact that Pip no longer has any parents as they are both “dead and buried” along with his siblings “Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias, and Roger” highlights how life is very cruel, and that infant mortality is a common occurrence. The long list of children who have died before him reinforces the idea that where he lives the quality of life is poor as the children seem to have died prematurely, leaving Pip to feel very isolated and alone.

QT3:
 Motif of death established at the start that is reoccurring throughout and ends the extract. Creates a sense that the environment is a dangerous one because it makes the reader fear for the narrator/ protagonist.
 The man is a convict – “leg iron” – escaped prisoner. Intrigued by who this stranger is and why he is here; what will he do?
 Pace of the story – unexpected change in the direction of the text – because the focus moves from Pip’s family and background to a potential incident of death. Shocks the reader because we are unprepared for the shift in focus.

QT4:

 Line 20 – “marsh country”
 Line 24 – “bleak place overgrown with nettles”
 Line 26 – “dead and buried” – parents and siblings.
 Line 28 – “distant savage lair”
 Line 29 – “small bundle of shivers growing afraid”
 Line 35/36 - “a man…no hat, broken shoes, old rag tied round his head”

Emma De Vito

25/11/2017

Hi,
I was just wondering if there are answers to this exercise and where to find them?
Thanks you

Hasbie Isaku

16/09/2017

5

5